An
alicyclic compound is an
organic compound that is both
aliphatic and
cyclic. They contain one or more all-carbon rings which may be either
saturated or unsaturated, but do not have
aromatic character. Alicyclic compounds may have one or more aliphatic side chains attached.
The simplest alicyclic compounds are the monocyclic
cycloalkanes:
cyclopropane,
cyclobutane,
cyclopentane,
cyclohexane,
cycloheptane,
cyclooctane, and so on.
Bicyclic alkanes include
bicycloundecane and
decalin.
Polycyclic alkanes include
cubane,
basketane, and housane.
Spiro compounds have two or more rings that are connected through only one carbon atom.
The mode of ring-closing in the formation of many alicyclic compounds can be predicted by
Baldwin's rules.